That may be why, as the Associated Press reported, "NASA took unprecedented security measures for the Jan. 16 launch of the space shuttle Columbia, whose crew included Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon."
On Feb. 18, however, AP reported, Border Patrol agents arrested four illegals working "inside a restricted area of the Kennedy Space Center and the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station." The illegals were from Mexico -- a fact that only could have been discovered after their arrest.
Francis E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming is the nation's largest repository of nuclear missiles. It is home to the 90th Space Wing, whose mission, says the base Web site, "is to defend America with the world's most powerful combat ready ICBM force."
On Feb. 26, INS arrested 37 Latin American illegals working construction projects at the base. How did INS catch them? Was it the result of aggressive investigation? Was it the result of the Air Force screening of workers? No. The Rocky Mountain (Colo.) News reported that on Feb. 7, base security noticed five people strolling out the main gate during a restricted period. They turned out to be illegals. Almost three weeks later, INS made its arrests.
Eighteen months after Sept. 11, our government still is not acting as if unmonitored aliens rolling across our borders -- and sometimes onto our most secure military facilities -- is a serious security threat. We can only hope this is not a miscalculation that will live in infamy.